Both assaults are horrific — and of a piece with a broader issue of disproportionate, discriminatory (and sometimes violent) discipline of Black girls in school. The U.S. Department of Education reports that Black girls are five times more likely to be suspended from school than white girls, schools are three times more likely to suspend Black girls with disabilities as white girls with disabilities, and Black girls are more likely than students of any other race or gender to be suspended more than once.

These dismal statistics have nothing to do with actual student behavior — Black girls (obviously) don’t misbehave more frequently or seriously than any other students — and everything to do with sexism and racism in school discipline. Discriminatory discipline runs the gamut from pulling girls out of class for violations of (racist) dress codes prohibiting cornrows to suspensions for vague “attitude violations” disproportionately applied to Black girls and other girls of color.

These unfair, inequitable sanctions have real consequences. They can lead to lost class time, lower grades, and increased risk of dropping out or getting pulled into the juvenile justice system. The repercussions can continue long into the future, troubling job and career prospects down the road.

And this discriminatory school pushout isn’t just unethical. It’s also illegal.

If you’re a student, parent, or teacher, download the National Women’s Law Center’s “Let Her Learn” toolkit (available in English and Spanish) to learn students’ rights and evaluate your school’s existing discipline policy and practices. Is your school’s dress code policy sex-specific? Does it target hairstyles or clothing common to certain racial, ethnic, or religious communities? Are girls of a certain race or ethnicity punished more often than others for vague offenses like “talking back”?

If so, it’s probably time to start organizing. The Trump White House isn’t bound to be a friend in this fight. So, now more than ever, it’s on all of us to act creatively, persistently, and tirelessly to make our schools fair and just.

New Haven, CT

Dana Bolger is a Senior Editor at Feministing and the co-founder of Know Your IX, the national youth-led organization working to end gender violence in schools. She's testified before Congress on Title IX policy and legislative reform, and her writing has appeared in a number of outlets, including The New York Times, Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. She's also a student at Yale Law School, and you can find her on Twitter at @danabolger.

Dana Bolger is a Senior Editor at Feministing and a student at Yale Law School.

After last week’s devastating school shooting in Parkland, Florida, students across America are demanding an assault weapons ban, comprehensive background checks, and a promise that young people can be safe in our nation’s classrooms. Students won’t back down and Congress is finally feeling the pressure to act.

The President, the NRA, and conservative media personalities, like Sean Hannity and Geraldo Rivera, have responded by calling for armed teachers, gun-toting retired soldiers, or more cops in schools. Here’s the problem: more cops in schools won’t keep students safe. Instead, they mean more students — especially students of color — will be ...

After last week’s devastating school shooting in Parkland, Florida, students across America are demanding an assault weapons ban, comprehensive background checks, and a promise that young people can be safe ...

For the past few months, I’ve seen several articles — almost exclusively writtenbywhite women — arguing that we shouldn’t enforce Title IX protections for survivors of sexual assault because the authors believe Black men are more likely to be accused. The narrative has been picked up by numerous media outlets and used by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to strip protections for survivors.

The idea that survivors’ rights are a threat to Black men leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Let me be clear: that’s not because I’m not worried about race discrimination in school discipline. We have no data to support the argument that Black men are more likely to be accused of or ...

For the past few months, I’ve seen several articles — almost exclusively writtenbywhite women — arguing that we shouldn’t enforce Title IX protections for survivors of sexual assault because the authors ...

For two years, Evan Mack endured a targeted campaign of racist harassment from his high school classmates. According to a report compiled by his parents, one student threatened to “rip the black off” Evan (who is biracial), other students used racial slurs, and his football team played a song called “Beat The N–” in the locker room, pretending to hit Evan while singing along. But when Evan and his family reported the harassment to ...

Search

We need your help!

Get Our Newsletter

New posts and Feministing news delivered to your inbox weekly!

Want to write for us?

All Feministing posts are written by the site’s collective of regular columnists and editors. Though we don’t currently accept guest submissions, we have an open platform Community site to which anyone can contribute. We often promote our favorite Community posts on the main site. And Community bloggers who consistently impress us may to be invited to become regular Feministing columnists..